Biomedical subjects

S Kesten

Publications and source records attributed to S Kesten.

96 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

PubMed1989

Management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterised by insidiously progressive airflow limitation. The necessarily multifactorial management programme should include smoking cessation, prevention of infections, bronchodilator and steroid therapy, supplemental oxygen, physical therapy, pulmonary rehabilitation programmes, psychosocial support and treatment of concomitant disease. There have been many advances in medical therapy but some of the notorious controversies remain. New sympathomimetic agents and methylxanthines, as well as the availability of inhaled anticholinergic medications free of toxicity, have led to improvement in symptoms and complications related to COPD. There is a clear place for the judicious use of systemic steroids.

Administration, Inhalation↗

PubMed1988

Nasal continuous positive airway pressure in Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia.

10 cm H2O of nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) was applied in nine subjects with Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, all of whom had presented with bilateral pulmonary infiltrates and hypoxaemia. The procedure was tolerated well by eight patients and none of the nine had complications. 20 minutes of nasal CPAP without supplemental oxygen increased mean PaO2 from 55.9 to 68.4 mm Hg and decreased the calculated alveolar-arterial oxygen gradient from 48.3 to 34.3 mm Hg. In one patient who was breathing oxygen at 4 litres per minute, PaO2 increased by 35 mm Hg. Nasal CPAP could be a useful method for augmenting oxygenation in P carinii pneumonia.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Esophageal candidiasis associated with beclomethasone dipropionate aerosol therapy.

A 23-year-old woman with asthma developed severe heartburn while using beclomethasone dipropionate. Esophageal candidiasis was diagnosed on endoscopy and confirmed by biopsy. Subsequent studies revealed mild hypogammaglobulinemia and mild impairment of neutrophil candidacidal activity, the significance of which is unknown. Esophageal candidiasis associated with the use of inhaled beclomethasone has not been previously reported.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Acute lung injury in lung allografts.

BACKGROUND: Acute alveolar injury is a pathologic description of a nonspecific response of the lung to an acute injury. It has been our experience that acute alveolar injury may be seen in transbronchial biopsy and open lung biopsy specimens from patients who have successfully undergone lung transplantation. Because no studies of the clinical significance of acute alveolar injury in lung transplant recipients are available in the literature, we reviewed the impact of this pathologic finding in patients who underwent transplantation in the Toronto Lung Transplant Program. METHODS: From November 1983 through December 1992, we retrospectively reviewed all transbronchial biopsies and open lung biopsies performed in lung transplant recipients. RESULTS: Of the 137 transplantations performed (53 single and 84 double) acute alveolar injury was observed in 21 single (34 of 173 transbronchial biopsy and 3 of 11 open lung biopsy) lung biopsy) and 22 double (38 of 415 transbronchial biopsy and 3 of 11 open lung biopsy) lung transplantations. We sought to explain this finding on the basis of the concurrent clinical scenario. Acute alveolar injury occurred most commonly in association with infection (52%) followed by postoperative period (19%) and acute (16%) rejection. Acute alveolar injury occurred as an isolated finding in 7% of patients. It occurred within the first 4 months after transplantation in 80% of cases. In 10 of 21 single lung transplantations and 12 of 22 double lung transplantations, acute alveolar injury was seen at least twice. However, no difference was found in mortality between such patients (6 of 10 single and 6 of 12 double lung transplantations) and patients with only one episode of acute alveolar injury. CONCLUSION: Acute alveolar injury is a relatively common finding in histologic specimens from patients with lung transplantation and is most commonly associated with infection.

Biopsy↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Causes of death in lung transplant recipients.

Between November 1983 and September 1992, The Toronto Lung Transplant Program performed 131 lung transplantations in 122 recipients; 53 single lung transplantations and 78 double lung transplantations. Forty-five patients died, 25 (47%) in the single lung transplantation and 20 (25%) in the double lung transplantation groups. We retrospectively reviewed the hospital charts of all deceased recipients and the postmortem reports of the 35 patients (20 single lung transplantations and 15 double lung transplantations) who had autopsies. Preoperative single lung transplantation diagnoses included pulmonary fibrosis, (n = 17) obstructive disease (n = 6) and vascular disease (n = 2). Preoperative diagnosis of double lung transplantation included pulmonary fibrosis (n = 2), obstructive disease (n = 6), septic lung disease (n = 9), and vascular disease (n = 3). The most common cause of death in single lung transplantation was infection. Five patients died of bronchiolitis obliterans, and five more had bronchiolitis obliterans lesions present at autopsy that were not a direct cause of death. Diagnosis of primary disease was made in 23 of 25 single lung transplantations antemortem and 2 of 25 at autopsy. Autopsy diagnoses were disseminated Aspergillus and cytomegalovirus infection. In double lung transplantations, infection was also the primary cause of death; in three other patients, airway dehiscence preceded infection. Bronchiolitis obliterans was the second most common cause of death and was also present in four patients dying of infection. All double lung transplantation diagnoses were made antemortem. We concluded that infection and then bronchiolitis obliterans are the primary causes of death after lung transplantation. Although infection is a major cause both early and late after transplantation, bronchiolitis obliterans is an important factor in transplantation only late after the operation.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Pharmacokinetic profile and variability of cyclosporine versus neoral in patients with cystic fibrosis after lung transplantation.

Various factors may influence bioavailability and blood concentrations of cyclosporine, a problem that may be compounded by diseases such as cystic fibrosis in which impaired absorption through the gastrointestinal tract is common. Neoral, a microemulsion formulation of cyclosporine, has improved bioavailability and more stable blood concentrations than earlier formulations. We conducted a prospective, open, crossover study to examine whether these findings held true in 12 clinically stable patients with cystic fibrosis who had undergone lung transplantation at least 6 months earlier. In the first arm, patients continued their usual dosage of cyclosporine twice/day. In the second arm they received Neoral for at least 1 week before having blood studies. For each arm whole blood trough concentrations were drawn for 7-10 successive days, together with a pharmacokinetic study with concentrations drawn at times zero, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12, and 24 hours. Variance was assessed from morning concentrations. Area under the curve from zero to 12 hours (AUC12), maximum concentration (Cmax), and time to Cmax (Tmax) were calculated for each arm. Eleven subjects completed the protocol. The daily variance for Neoral was significantly less than for cyclosporine (p=0.04). The AUC12 for Neoral and cyclosporine were 4164+/-1467 and 5318+/-1670 microg x L/hour (p=0.09), respectively. Respective Cmax were 613+/-242 and 931 +/-458 microg/L (p=0.08) and relative Cmax and AUC12 were 1.91 and 1.47 (p<0.05). Thus Neoral had a superior pharmacokinetic profile and less day-to-day variability in patients with cystic fibrosis who had undergone lung transplantation.

Adult↗